Peroxygen bleach-containing compositions have been extensively described in laundry applications as laundry detergents, laundry additives or even laundry pretreaters.
Indeed, it is known to use liquid compositions comprising a peroxygen bleach and a bleach activator in laundry pretreatment applications. Although said liquid bleaching compositions provide good bleaching performance when used to pretreat a soiled fabric, there is still some room to further improve them regarding for example the stains/soils removal performance delivered when pretreating said soiled fabric.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide improved stain removal performance on a variety of stains/soils under pretreatment conditions, i.e., when applied directly onto the soiled fabrics, and left to act onto said fabrics before washing said fabrics. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide liquid compositions containing a peroxygen bleach and a liquid hydrophobic bleach activator, which deliver improved stain removal performance on a variety of stains/soils under pretreatment conditions while not compromising on their bleaching performance.
It has now been found that the above object can be met by using a liquid composition comprising a polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant to pretreat soiled fabrics. Indeed, it has been found that the addition of a polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant, as defined hereinafter, in a liquid composition, e.g., in a liquid composition comprising a peroxygen bleach and optionally a liquid hydrophobic bleach activator, allows to deliver improved stain removal performance on fabrics under pretreatment conditions, as compared to the stain removal performance delivered by the same composition without said polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant, or to the same composition but with another surfactant like for instance a nonionic ethoxylated surfactant (C.sub.14 -C.sub.15 7EO) instead of said polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant. Thus, in its broadest aspect, the present invention encompasses the use of said polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant, in a liquid composition, for improving the stain removal performance of said composition under pretreatment conditions, on a variety of stains. The present invention also encompasses liquid compositions comprising said polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactant, a peroxygen-bleach and a liquid hydrophobic bleach activator. Indeed, it has further been found that the addition of said polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactants, in the liquid peroxygen bleach-containing compositions of the present invention comprising said liquid hydrophobic bleach activator, contributes to emulsify said hydrophobic bleach activator so that said compositions are formulated either as microemulsions or as emulsions. Thus, the compositions according to the present invention allow to provide improved stain removal performance when pretreating soiled fabrics while exhibiting also excellent chemical stability, even upon prolonged storage periods.
An advantage of the present invention is that the improved stain removal performance obtained when pretreating fabrics with the compositions of the present invention is noticeable on a variety of stains/soils including greasy/oil stains, like make-up, lipstick, dirty motor oil and mineral oil, greasy food like mayonnaise and spaghetti sauce, bleachable stains like tea and enzymatic stains like blood and grass.
EP-A-598 170 discloses an emulsion comprising hydrogen peroxide or a source thereof, a hydrophobic liquid ingredient and an emulsifying system comprising two nonionic surfactants with different HLB (hydrophilic lipophilic balance). No polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactants are disclosed.
Co-pending European patent application number 95203330.6 discloses a liquid bleaching composition comprising hydrogen peroxide, a liquid hydrophobic bleach activator, said composition being formulated as a microemulsion of said hydrophobic liquid bleach activator in a matrix comprising water, said hydrogen peroxide, a hydrophilic surfactant system comprising a nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant. No polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactants are disclosed.